General Care Instructions
The most important step in caring for your miniature Poinsettia is the watering.
WATERING - Your miniature Poinsettia comes with a convenient and functional self-watering device. Your plant has a special synthetic wick installed that allows water to be absorbed from your self-watering system. You should always keep water in the self-watering system. Do not leave the self-watering system empty for more than one day. If empty overfill to reactivate wicking action. Your Poinsettia will grow roots into the well. Roots are the best wicks. If you dislike that appearance, you may remove the roots by pulling them off. You will not damage the plant by doing so. The wick will provide sufficient water to your plant.
WATER TEMPERATURE - Since you are watering your miniature Poinsettia with the self-watering system, the water temperature is not important.
FERTILIZING - You may fertilize the miniature Poinsettia on a continuous basis. We recommend to use the fertilizer every time you fill the self watering system. For best results, use only Optimara® plant food with a 20-5-10 NPK. Mix one packet of fertilizer with one gallon of water. You may keep the fertilizer solution mixed in the gallon jug for a longer period of time. Optimara® Fertilizer is also recommended for all other house plants. You can get this special fertilizer online at http://www.selectivegardener.com, but a good quality general plant food will give the Poinsettia sufficient nutrients throughout the holiday season.
LIGHT - Generally, miniature Poinsettias need all the light they can get. Natural light is the best. Plants like very early or very late sun , but otherwise should be kept out of direct sunlight. A general rule of thumb is to give your Poinsettia bright, indirect light for as much of the day as possible. You can also expose your plant under artificial light, such as a desk lamp. Please remember that an incandescent or halogen light can easily be to hot when placed right over the plants.
LOCATION - any window in the home that offers bright light is a potential location for Poinsettias. But during the holiday season you may place the Poinsettia anywhere you like, they are very forgiving when repositioned for a more extended period.
ENVIROMENT- miniature Poinsettias generally enjoy the same type of environment people prefer. Air should be fairly fresh, but drafts can cause severe damage.
TEMPERATURE - most miniature poinsettias can tolerate temperatures between 50° and 80°. A daytime temperature of 72° to 75° with nighttime temperatures around 65° is is ideal. Miniature poinsettias are very susceptible to cold temperatures and avoid any kind of cold draft.
HUMIDITY- plants prefer humidity range of 50% to 70%.
AFTER CHRISTMAS - The Poinsettia is a highly seasonal plant to enjoy during the Christmas season. May we recommend that you keep the self-watering system as a pencil holder after Christmas, or you may visit he SelectiveGardener to refill the container with a miniature African Violet.
"Enjoy your Optimara miniature Poinsettia this special holiday season"
-The Optimara Team
